Sometimes I got something going on, something I’m burning too much daylight on, and I can’t figure it out. The path isn’t clear. The monkey chatter is as loud as it gets and I feel myself ratcheting up.

One time way back in high school I was struggling with a drawing. When I asked my art teacher for help she told me that I’d overworked it. And she was right, plain as day, clear as mud. I’d added layer upon layer of colored pencil and the drawing had turned to shit. Inspiration and tension don’t mix.

If I don’t know the answer, don’t know what to do, stepping back always works. Put whatever down, take a breather. Let it go and move on to something else. It’s not always easy because I’m real good at continually trying to sculpt life as if it were a firm mound of wet clay. Squeezing the hell outta it until my hands are aching and sore. And most of the time that doesn’t work for me. Life’s not like that.

Inspiration often knocks on my door when I’m not looking for it, not forcing it. It’s like, “That wasn’t my idea. I don’t know where it came from…but it’s brilliant.”

Pause. Take a few minutes, hours, maybe more, and enjoy something else life has to offer. Get my head on straight. There’s no reason for me to be in a hurry.

When I return I’m blessed with clarity, guidance. If anything I’ve relaxed and let go of my frustration.

In a kinda-related example I offer two moonflower pictures from yesterday. Same flower, 40 minutes apart. It just needed some time to sort itself out. I didn’t need to “manage” the miracle.

Trust the process. Trust the cosmos. It knows what it’s doing. More than we do.